American, United push back 737 MAX return amid new approval delays

submitted by Nemacolin from reuters.com

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[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I bet this will take a solid year.

American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL.O) are pushing back the return of Boeing 737 MAX flights until August and September, respectively, a fresh delay that comes after sources told Reuters that the timing of a key certification flight may not occur until at least April.

American is cancelling 737 MAX flights until Aug. 18 and United until Sept. 4, the two said in separate statements on Friday. The other U.S. 737 MAX operator, Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N), has extended its flight cancellations until Aug. 10.

The new timelines mean that the three carriers will be flying without the 737 MAX for the second straight U.S. summer, an issue that hit their profits during last year’s peak travel season.

Boeing’s 737 MAX was grounded worldwide last March after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.

The U.S. planemaker has spent months updating software believed to have played a role in both crashes, but fresh issues have surfaced, complicating regulators’ efforts to reapprove the plane.

The timing of a certification flight, a key step in the approval process, has been delayed repeatedly. The latest unofficial guidance was for the flight to happen this month, but now it is unlikely to occur while Boeing tries to resolve the new problems, sources said this week.